The action had led to a backlash of reactions and the Army had attempted to justify the shooting by sharing a video of Trump on its official Twitter handle, where the US President said if US soldiers are attacked with stones, they would consider such stones as "rifles".

Trump said in a speech on Thursday that rocks thrown by migrants on the US-Mexico border should be considered as firearms. "We're not going to put up with that", Mr. Trump says."They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back".

"They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back", Trump said in his November 1 remarks.

One day later, Trump said he didn't mean the troops would shoot the rock-throwers. Nigerian police arrested 400 members of the Shia Muslim sect after days of deadly protests in the capital of Abuja that began on Saturday.

"We call on both sides to exercise restraint, and we urge the Government of Nigeria to conduct a thorough investigation & hold accountable those responsible for violating Nigerian law". An Amnesty International report published Wednesday said 45 peaceful supporters of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) were killed by the Nigerian military and police.

Soldiers opened fire Monday on a march of about 1,000 Islamic Shia activists who had been blocking traffic in the capital, Abuja. IMN represents many members of Nigeria's Shiite minority and opposes the use of violence.

The police arrested 400 IMN members on Tuesday for engaging in a violent protest and for setting ablaze a police patrol auto parked in front of a shopping mall on Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja.

Trump, however, has made clear his intention to strengthen the US-Nigerian partnership, despite minimal efforts by Nigeria at genuine reform.

"We released that video to say if President Trump can say that rocks are as good as a rifle, who is Amnesty International?" he said. "We're going to arrest those people", he told reporters.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP Sunday in Sokoto, state leader of IMN, Sheikh Sidi Manir, said they have been practicing their religion in Nigeria for over 40 years now without interference, hence, he wondered what is now their crime that the government is consistently against them.

Nigeria's defence spokesman John Agim said the army posted the video in response to criticism that its security forces had acted unlawfully.

"What did the biblical David use to kill Goliath?"

Soldiers had arrived to assist police, a news release said, and were met with protesters who threw canisters of fuel, "large stones, catapults with risky objects and other unsafe items".

"Video footage and eyewitness testimonies consistently show that the Nigerian military dispersed peaceful gatherings by firing live ammunition without warning, in clear violation of Nigerian and worldwide law", an Amnesty statement read.

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